Strife, stalemate over Jasper County school board map

COLUMBIA — Efforts to redraw Jasper County’s school board districts and grant the district the authority to sign off on its own budget have skidded to a stop and won’t be revisited until next year.

Sen. Clementa Pinckney, Jasper County’s lone senator, called the actions that thwarted his legislation “shameful” and blamed “political machinations” after the Legislature completed its work for the year Thursday.

“The law governs how those (district) lines should be drawn. So after some discussions, we had some consensus on moving forward,” said Pinckney, referring to his latest bill, S. 1583, which was filed Tuesday and killed on Thursday. “I reintroduced the bill and it was revised.”

An earlier version of the new school board district map, which compresses the board districts from nine to seven, had drawn concern from Rep. Bill Herbersman, R-Bluffton, and others. So Pinckney tried again Tuesday.

“We had a consensus on moving the bill forward because changes were made to the map, based on the issues that Rep. Herbkersman brought up,” said the Ridgeland Democrat.

“Staff addressed those as best they could within the law. It should have gone smoothly. However, I suspect some political machinations by other persons.”

He said it was highly unusual for a local bill, such as the Jasper County school board map redrawing, to be obstructed by someone who represents a different county.

Thursday marked the last day of the two-year S.C. General Assembly, and that means the explosive task must be restarted in the new session, which starts in January.

‘Timing was off’

So how did Pinckney’s bill perish? Rep. Eric Bedingfield, R-Mauldin, did the deed.

On Friday, the Greenville County Republican said he objected to Jasper County’s redistricting bill from a procedural standpoint — its timing was off.

“The bill had not been properly vetted,” Bedingfield said, adding that it had been “introduced in the last day or two of the session with no debate,” and “moments away” from the General Assembly’s adjournment.

Thursday marked that day, but lawmakers have agreed to return to the Statehouse the week of June 19 to take up budget vetoes and resolve limited business.

Of Bedingfield’s action against the Jasper County bill, Herbkersman said there was a handful of legislators who would have done the same thing.

The Bluffton Republican, whose 118th House district was redrawn during the once-a-decade redistricting process to include part of Jasper County next year, called Pinckney’s proposed map “a power grab.”

But Pinckney said that’s not the case: “It’s not a power grab. It’s the law.”

Herbkersman said community members who contacted him said they feared “reverse racism” in the redistricting process.

“Those are all good folks in Jasper,” Herbkersman said. “They, like everyone else just want things fair, and most of the parents want the best for their kids. And they desperately want a say-so in the future of their kids’ education and of their communities.”

Jasper County has nearly 25,000 people, and is about 46 percent black, 43 percent white and 15 percent Hispanic, according to the 2010 census. Community members are quick to point out that the numbers have changed since then.

Herberksman said the outcry over the proposed map has been intense.

“I had calls from former Rep. Thayer Rivers, Former (Ridgeland) Mayor Gary Hodges, Republican County Chairman Duane Swygert and so many folks from Hardeeville and Jasper that feel they are not being represented,” said Herberksman.

Related bill killed

Pinckney said a related school board bill that was also quashed, S. 1556, would not have led to any specific changes in school operations.

“The bill is not addressing a problem per se, but it treats the school board like adults. It treats them like elected officials,” he said. “It allows them the final say on their budgets, as do many school districts across our state.”

Currently, the county council holds authority over the schools’ budget.

“Some people said, ‘Jasper County schools are out of control. We’ve got to protect Jasper County.’ ... I thought it was odd,” Pinckney said.

But Herbkersman said there are serious concerns about the so-called “fiscal autonomy” proposal.

“It’s important to note that I received a great number of calls from black Jasper residents begging not to let the school board control its budget,” he said.

The dispute over the Jasper County school board may offer a preview of the future dynamics of the newly-configured House and Senate districts. Currently, Jasper County is represented by Pinckney in the Senate and Rep. Curtis Brantley, a Ridgeland Democrat, in the House.

“As an upcoming member of the Jasper delegation, I look forward to working with all members,” said Herbkersman, adding that Sen. Tom Davis, Beaufort County’s Republican senator, will be joining him. “But it won’t be business as usual because it will be a three-two Republican-Democrat district.”

Two Republicans are competing in the June 12 primary to represent the newly created 120th House District, which will span Beaufort and Jasper counties.

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